In boyhood, Louis Zamperini was an incorrigible delinquent. As a teenager, he channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics. But when World War II began, the athlete became an airman, embarking on a journey that led to a doomed flight on a May afternoon in 1943. When his Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean, against all odds, Zamperini survived, adrift on a…

The incredible true story of louis zamperini, now a major motion picture directed by angelina jolie. The international number one bestsellerin 1943 a bomber crashes into the pacific ocean. Against all odds, one young lieutenant survives. Louise zamperini had already transformed himself from child delinquent to prodigious athlete, running in the berlin olympics. Now he must embark on one of the second world war's most extraordinary odysseys.

Zamperini faces thousands of miles of open ocean on a failing raft. Beyond like only greater trials, in japan's prisoner-of-war camps. Driven to the limits of endurance, zamperini's destiny, whether triumph or tragedy, depends on the strength of his will ...now a major motion picture, directed by angelina jolie and starring jack o' connell.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Subscribe to our daily curated newsletter to receive the latest of Goodreadbiography famous people stories delivered to your email inbox.

Email Address

Subscribe to Newsletter

Subscribe to our daily curated newsletter to receive the latest of Goodreadbiography famous people stories delivered to your email inbox.

About the Author
Laura Hillenbrand is the author of the number one bestsellers Unbroken and Seabiscuit, which won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. The film it inspired was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. She served as a consultant on the Universal Pictures feature film based on Unbroken. Hillenbrand’s New Yorker article, ‘A Sudden Illness’, won the 2004 National Magazine Award, and she is a two-time winner of the Eclipse Award. She and actor Gary Sinise co-founded Operation International Children, a charity that provided school supplies to children through American troops. She lives in Washington, D.C.

Review
Hailed as the top nonfiction book of the year by Time magazine • Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for biography and the Indies Choice Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year award

“[A] one-in-a-billion story . . . designed to wrench from self-respecting critics all the blurby adjectives we normally try to avoid: It is amazing, unforgettable, gripping, harrowing, chilling, and inspiring.”—New York

“Staggering . . . mesmerizing . . . Hillenbrand’s writing is so ferociously cinematic, the events she describes so incredible, you don’t dare take your eyes off the page.”—People

“A meticulous, soaring and beautifully written account of an extraordinary life.”—The Washington Post

“Ambitious and powerful . . . a startling narrative and an inspirational book.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Magnificent . . . incredible . . . [Hillenbrand] has crafted another masterful blend of sports, history and overcoming terrific odds; this is biography taken to the nth degree, a chronicle of a remarkable life lived through extraordinary times.”—The Dallas Morning News

“An astonishing testament to the superhuman power of tenacity.”—Entertainment Weekly

“[A] masterfully told true story . . . nothing less than a marvel.”—Washingtonian

“[Hillenbrand tells this] story with cool elegance but at a thrilling sprinter’s pace.”—Time

“Hillenbrand [is] one of our best writers of narrative history. You don’t have to be a sports fan or a war-history buff to devour this book—you just have to love great storytelling.”—Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lac